Currently China allows 34 foreign films to be imported annually. This will be increased to 44 in the near future, says THR.

The country's regulations are in place to bolster the box office performance of homegrown films. The increased quota is likely to be allocated to arthouse international titles, which traditionally don't distract the Chinese audience from domestic films.

Hollywood blockbusters included in the quota tend to outperform big budget Chinese films. Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier took $39.23m in its opening weekend in China and is showing in 40% of the country's cinemas.